Railroad-spike



W. J. ABRAHAMS.

RAILROAD SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIB. ms:

1,803,002. v Patented May 6,1919. f I 5.1

- wmrIELD J. ABRAHAMS, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

RAILROAD-SPIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, 1919.

Application filed May 18, 1918. Serial No. 235,314.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WINFIELD J. Alarm runs, a citizen of the United States, resid- 3 ing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have be firmly held against withdrawal from the provision of stated character which shall be simple, dura- 5 vention,

invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Spikes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.-

This invention relates to improvements in railroad spikes and has for one of its objects the provision of a device of this character whereby upon rotation or turning of the same after being driven into a tie, it will tie.

Another object of provision of means for limiting the movement of the spike into the tie so that the same can be readily turned for looking it against withdrawal'from the tie.

A further object of this invention is the a railroad spike of the above bio and etiicient, and which may be manufactured and sold at a comparatively low cost. Y

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts as will be, hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my inreference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which: i

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a railroad spike illustrating the same applied to a tie and railroad rail and constructed in accordance with my invention, r Fin. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same,

Fig. 3 isa fragmentary of the spike,

I Fig. 4 is a on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2;

Referring in detailto the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a railroad tie having mounted thereon a railroad rail 2. A cylindrical shank 3 has formed upon one end thereof a driving head 4 while its opposite end is tapered as illustrated at 5 to" form a driving point.' The tapered end 5 is of a perspective view transverse sectional view taken ries of screw thread-s 7.

this invention is the substantially conical shape as clearly illustrated in 2 for the purpose of aiding in driving the shank 3 into the tie 1. v The shank 3 adjacent the tapered portion 5 is provided with oppositely disposed flattened surfaces 6 and with oppositely disposed se- These screw threads 7 are so arranged upon the shank 3 that they are adapted to bite or out into the tie upon rotating the shank 3 whereby the shank is firmly locked into the tie. 7

The head 4 is of such a shape that the same projects laterally ofthe shank 3 for the purpose of engaging the base 8 of the railroad rail 2 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. An extension 9 is formed upon the laterally projecting end of the head l and is adapted to overlie and rest upon the base 8 of the railroad rail 2 when the spike or shank 3 is in its rail securing position. The upper face of the extension 9 is convexed while the bottom face is beveled to conform to the inclination ofthe base 8 of the rail2. A lateral nib 10 is formed upon one edge of the extension 9 at its free end and is adapted to limit the movement of the spike or shank 3 into the tie 1" during the first securing operation of the spike into the tie. In operation, the shank 3 is driven into the tie 1 by a suitable tool with the extension 9 disposed parallel with the railroad rail 2 as illustrated in'full lines in "Fig. 1

and as the shank 3 reache's home in the tie,-

the nib engagesthe base of the rail thereby limiting further movement of the shank into the tie.

the extension 9 and laterally projecting end of the head 4 is disposed over the base of the rail 2 and by so doing causes the threads 7 to bite into the tie locking the shank 3 firmly thereto. By having the nib 10 resting upon the base 8 of the rail 2 before turning of the shank 3 provides means whereby the extension 9 will be g'uidedover the base 8 of the rail 2 when the shank 3 is turned. ,In order to remove the spike or shank 3 from the tie 1, the shank 3 is turned in a reverse direction placing the threads 7 in alinement they made when the shank was the tie, so readily withdrawn from the tie.

While I have shown and described the driven into with the path that that the spike or shankcan be.

A wrench or suitable toolis then placed upon the head 4 and turned so that,

preferred embodiment 'of my invention, it

construction, combination, and arrangement upon said shank, a lateral extension formed 0 parts may be made withoutr departing upon said head and adaptedto overlie the 15 from the spirit and scope of the invention as base of a railroad rail, and means formed d. upon said extension for engagement with 5 Having thus described my inventiomwhat the base of the rail prior to turning the -c1a1m 1s zshank to cause the threads to bite into the tie.

A railroad spike comprising a shank hav- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature 2o ing a tapered end, opposite disposed screw in presence of two witnesses. threads formedupon said shank and adapt- Id ed to bite into a tie upon turning the shank I WIN FIELD J. ABRAHAMS- in the tie after being riven into said tie, vWitnesses: flattened portions mounted upon said shank FANNIE Rows,

between said screw threads, a head formed DANiEn C. MCGONIGLE. 

